There are all of the obvious reasons…health care insurance, Medicare, the 40 hour work week, equal pay…the list goes on. These are rights that so many workers take entirely for granted, which is not cool. Without the blood, sweat, more blood and more sweat expended by organized labor, the picture for American’s working men and women would be very different.

“The union movement has always been attached to a set of values — solidarity being the most important, the sense that each should look out for the interests of all. This promoted other commitments: to mutual assistance, to a rough-and-ready sense of equality, to a disdain for elitism, to a belief that democracy and individual rights did not stop at the plant gate or the office reception room.”

Traditionally we express our gratitude for unions – and take a national holiday - on Labor Day. Thanksgiving is, by its very title, a day of being grateful for a lot of things. We are grateful for unions, today and every day.

The list below of reasons to thank a union – from Union Plus - is fairly comprehensive, but it also probably comes up short. You probably have personal reasons to thank a union. We would love it if you would share them with us.